


The Adopt-A-Dragon Job

by benjaminrussell



Category: Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Canon-Typical Violence, D&D inspired, Dragons, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-08 00:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16418648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell
Summary: Magic is everywhere and fantasy creatures walk the earth, but the Leverage team get together anyway because there’s still people to help and bad guys to con. Things go a little bit differently though when Parker brings home a stray dragon…





	The Adopt-A-Dragon Job

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for the Leverage Big Bang 2018. Art by the amazing [ithilwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithilwen)! 
> 
> Thanks to [Roshwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roshwen/pseuds/Roshwen) for betaing and also geeking out about D&D with me!

The hot chocolate swirled dangerously close to the rim of the mug as Parker stirred her spoon through it, but she kept her movements controlled enough that the drink never quite spilled. She’d just successfully pulled off the heist she’d been planning for the last month, the statuette tucked safely away in one her many stashes, and so now she was treating herself to one of the ridiculously sweet hot chocolates from a local café, one that came with all sorts of sprinkles and marshmallows on top. The money to pay for it was even swiped from an obnoxious businessman’s pocket, which made the drink even more enjoyable.

As she sipped her drink people came and went, some also visiting the café, others walking straight past. After a little while, a middle-aged woman came and sat down at another of the outdoor tables near Parker’s.  Parker didn’t pay her much attention aside from automatically evaluating her as a potential target, not until a few minutes later when the waiter came to taker the woman’s order and she was rather rude to him for no reason.

Under the pretence of getting up to grab a couple of packets of sugar from the stand by the door, Parker swiped the woman’s purse from her handbag, quickly stripping the cash and cards from it before dropping the purse itself in a nearby trash can, and then returned to her seat as if nothing had happened. She subtly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed, and thought she was in the clear until she spotted a teenage boy staring right at her from across the street.

A half-elf like Parker herself, it was clear to her from his appearance and from her own personal experience, that he was a street kid. After another glance around her, Parker pulled out one of the stolen bills and used it to beckon him towards her. She didn’t like giving away money, especially not physical cash, but she also knew all too well what it was like to live on the streets, so what she was about to do didn’t sting too badly. The boy’s curiosity got the better of him, so he scurried across the road, avoiding a few cars, and made his way towards Parker, stopping just out of reach.

“I’ve been where you are; I know what it’s like,” Parker told him quietly, in an attempt to reassure him she had no ulterior motives, before producing the rest of the cash she’d stolen from the rude lady’s purse and holding it out below the height of the table so no-one else would notice what was going on.

“If you don’t tell anyone what you saw, I’ll split the take with you,” She continued.

“Deal,” He agreed, gaze darting between Parker and the money in her hand. She put the handful of bills on the chair next to her, and then after some brief consideration, added one of the credit cards to the pile.

“If you’re quick, you might be able to get some use out of that,” She murmured, withdrawing her hand before purposefully looking away. There was a muttered “Thanks,” and when she glanced back, the money was gone and the boy had darted out of sight.

Finishing her drink, Parker stood up and headed down the street, leaving enough money to cover the drink and a decent tip tucked under the empty mug.

A few blocks away, she happened to glance into an empty alleyway. Immediately a doorway partway down the alley caught her eye because it was glowing a pale blue and covered in intricate symbols that told her it was a magical portal. She turned sharply and headed towards the door, wanting a better look at what was still an uncommon sight despite the current prevalence of magic.

If anything, it glowed even brighter as she approached it, and when she reached out to touch it tentatively with her fingertips, it felt warm to the touch. Arcane knowledge wasn’t one of her specialities, but something about the portal was calling to her so she reached for the doorknob, pulled the door open, and stepped through, taking the plunge into the unknown.

***

Eliot hurried through the old maintenance tunnels, hoping to get clear before more of the old man’s thugs caught up to him.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t take them, in fact he’d already left a trail of unconscious bodies behind him during his exit from the mansion, but he was on a tight timetable if he wanted to get the bonus for a “quick recovery”. The book that he’d been paid to retrieve was wrapped in a cloth and tucked in the hidden inside pocket of his jacket, because for the amount of money he was being paid, he’d follow whatever handling instructions the buyer gave him, regardless of the fact that he didn’t understand why the book was so special. He suspected that actually there wasn’t anything about the book itself that made it worth so much, but rather it was just one of those items where it had become a competition to own it between certain people with too much money and not enough sense.

He was almost at the exit to the street when he heard the quiet cocking of a gun. He stopped abruptly, ready to throw himself out of the line of fire, but realised it was too late – he’d walked into an ambush. Another couple of flashlights snapped on in addition to his own, revealing three figures who’d clearly been waiting in the dark in case he made it this far. There were two men and a woman, and all of them looked like they meant business. Definitely a higher class of thug than those he’d fought so far.

He gave them all a glance over, evaluating their threat level and cataloguing all the little details he could glean from the way they looked and held themselves, and was just thinking he could probably take them if he used the cramped quarters against them, when one of the men drew a ridiculously large gun from his jacket. If Eliot took a hit from that, he wouldn’t be getting up again, so its appearance suddenly skewed the odds in their favour.

“Give us the book and you can walk out of here alive,” The woman said, seemingly the leader of the group.

Eliot didn’t believe her for a second and anyway he’d ruin his professional reputation if he gave up when he was almost away scot free with the item. He quickly ran through different scenarios in his mind, trying to find a way out that left him with the book and a minimum amount of bullet wounds.

That was when the door to his left started glowing, drawing all of their attentions. Until a moment ago, it had been an old rusting thing marked ‘Danger: High Voltage’, but now it was clearly a portal of some kind. Seizing his chance, Eliot threw his flashlight at the head of the man with the stupid gun, dropping him with one blow, and then he yanked the glowing door open and leapt into the portal.

***

Hardison ran through the library, winding his way around the stacks and occasional unsuspecting members of the public, doing his best to put as much distance as possible between him and the men who were very definitely not security guards. He considered throwing a blast of sacred flame over his shoulder, but it was hard to aim whilst running and he didn’t want to damage the books, or worse, set fire to the library. Sure, he’d pick his life over some library books, but he’d rather it didn’t come down to him having to make that choice, especially over such a trivial matter.

The guys hadn’t announced why they were there, but Hardison was reasonably sure that they had to have been sent by the crooked businessman who was also the local high priest of Bane, the god of tyranny, as the priest was the only person he’d crossed recently who would have the resources to find him and who also would send people after him personally rather than just calling the police. Hardison’s ‘crime’ had actually been months ago, but his actions had only been discovered recently so he’d spent the past couple of weeks looking over his shoulder for thugs just like these. He’d been messing about online, testing out the security on various websites more for fun than anything else, when he’d stumbled across private communications between the priest and another businessman who was giving sizeable donations to the church of Bane. So, as someone with a conscience, he’d decided he would make the most of that information. His own patron deity, Selûne, had clearly approved of his plan; after he’d prayed to her for guidance, he’d known exactly what to do in order to enact his plan to maximum effect. And indeed, once he’d snuck into the church and planted the worm in their system, various charities across the city began receiving anonymous donations. The amounts weren’t big enough to be suspicious to anyone inspecting the charities’ accounts, and the money was all small amounts scraped off the top of the donations to the church so it wouldn’t be obvious anything was wrong.

Back in the present, Hardison threw out another quick prayer to Selûne as he reached the stairs, sparing a brief glance to check his pursuers were still behind him, and clattered down, no real plan in mind other than running. He had a vague hope of losing them in the more populated lower levels of the building, but unless he could find another way out that wasn’t the main door as they were certain to have someone watching it, he wouldn’t get far.

He turned the corner of the staircase and found his prayers answered as he spotted a door immediately ahead of him marked ‘Fire Escape’. He shoved it open and threw himself through, too preoccupied to really notice the fact that it was glowing faintly.

***

Parker stepped through the portal and found herself in a nondescript warehouse that was mostly empty aside from the door she’d just come through and a table set up in the middle of the space. Next to the table was a middle-aged man wearing a scruffy suit, who looked up as soon as Parker entered the room despite her making no sound. That meant he had to be the wizard who cast or at least activated the portal.

“Hello Parker,” He greeted, “I have a job for you.”

Before Parker could ask any questions, like how he knew  her and how much money he would pay her, the portal flared briefly and someone else stepped out. A somewhat younger man with the look of someone who regularly got in fights, he moved quickly as if he was trying to escape; as if moments ago, he’d been in a tight spot. It was a look Parker knew well, and it set her wondering what he’d stolen.

The man quickly scanned his surroundings, identified both Parker and the wizard as potential opponents, and stepped sideways so he could keep line of sight to both of them as well as the portal. Definitely someone who had a similar career to her, but probably a lot more violent.

“Eliot Spencer, welcome. I have a proposal for you,” The wizard said, before glancing at the portal again and adding: “We’re just waiting for one more person and then I’ll explain why I’ve brought you all here.”

The portal flared for a third time, and Parker had to step quickly out of the way as a young man came barrelling through, skidding to a stop when he noticed his surroundings.

“Huh, okay. This isn’t the library’s fire escape. Who’re you all?” He asked, looking around at the three other people in the warehouse and the portal behind him. “A magical portal, sweet. Also, thanks for the timely casting.”

“My name is Nate Ford,” The wizard told them, expression tightening almost imperceptibly at the young guy’s excitement.

“Eliot,” The guy with the lovely long hair said, looking like the wanted to throw the guy back through the portal, although Parker was sure that he couldn’t actually be that grumpy all the time. Not when he stole stuff for a living.

“I’m Parker,” She replied with a grin, excited to find out about what was clearly going to be a new adventure that looked like it would be fun and very profitable, given the assortment of people gathered here.

“Nice to meet you. Name’s Hardison,” The young guy said, grinning back at her. It looked like he was about to say something else, but Nate spoke up before he could.

“I brought you all here because I need people with your unique skill sets to pull off an impossible heist.”

***

They pulled off the difficult but not actually impossible heist, stealing some plans back after a bit of corporate espionage, and they all thought that would be that.

But then the guy who hired Nate refused to pay them and tried to kill them, and they just had to take him down in retaliation. Nate brought in a grifter named Sophie Devereaux who was the worst actor any of them had ever seen, except for when she was running a con, but who was able to motivate and inspire the rest of them to give them the edge they needed to get their payback.

Riding the high of the win led to them doing ‘just one more’ job, helping an old friend of Nate’s who’d been taken advantage of by a drug company, and then one thing led to another and soon they found that they’d become a fully established crew with a string of successful cons under their belts without realising. Who knew helping people was so addictive?

The five of them settled into a routine of sorts, using their skills to help people who needed it while taking payment and compensation for the victims from bad guys, and Leverage became the name on more and more people’s lips when they needed help dealing with a monster, whether it was a corrupt businessman, an actual monster, or even both.

That was when the next big change came to disrupt their lives.

***

“I need your help,” Parker begged after she entered the apartment above their current base so stealthily that she may as well have just appeared out of thin air, startling the two men bickering over whatever was on TV. Eliot and Hardison were both used to Parker appearing out of nowhere, but it still caught them off guard sometimes. They dropped their argument and turned to look at Parker, Eliot’s attention immediately drawn to the bundle in her arms while Hardison focused on her uncharacteristically worried expression.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Hardison asked as he jumped to his feet, looking for any signs that she was hurt.

“I was out casing the new jewellery store downtown just for fun when I heard a commotion in the alley around the back so I went to check it out, and there was a human and a dwarf trying to trap this little guy. So I knocked them out and brought him back here. I couldn’t just leave him there!” Parker explained, rambling a little in her worry.

“Him?” Eliot queried, frown deepening as he imagined what on earth Parker could have found to elicit this reaction from her. She nodded and tilted her arms forwards slightly so he and Hardison could see what it was she was cradling so carefully.

“That’s a dragon,” Hardison blurted out, staring down at the tiny brass dragon in Parker’s arms; a dragon so small that it had to be a wyrmling, and a young one at that. “You brought a baby dragon home.”

Before either Eliot or Parker could say anything in response, he started talking in a deep, guttural language that neither of them knew but was presumably Draconic, gaze firmly fixed on the dragon. The dragon perked its head up for the first time at that, looking at Hardison with small, beady eyes, and replied in the same guttural language, giving them a mostly unneeded reminder that dragons were intelligent beings - even harmless looking ones like the one currently in their apartment. The conversation went back and forth for a minute or two, Eliot and Parker both listening and watching curiously even though they didn’t understand what was being said. Then the dragon squirmed out of Parker’s arms and jumped to the floor, keen to explore its new surroundings.

“Her name is Yuvaris, and she’s been on her own for a while now, since she was taken from her mother by a group who I’m guessing were poachers,” Hardison told the other two, his disgusted expression making it clear what he thought about the situation. Eliot’s expression tightened to match, and Parker’s face went blank.

“Do you think those men in the alley were poachers?” Parker asked, voice just as dangerously expressionless.

“Sendin’ people after an escaped captive, especially one as a valuable as a dragon fits the actions of poachers,” Eliot agreed, voice almost a growl. Seeing that both of his partners looked like they were about to commit large amounts of violence, Hardison quickly stepped in.

“We’re definitely going to hunt down whoever did this and make them pay,” He promised. “But right now we need to look after Yuvaris and decide what we’re going to do with her.”

He made sure to look both of them in the eye, and pointedly added, “Agreed?”

After he got confirmation that neither of them were going to go charging out of the apartment, he set about organising what they needed to do to look after their new friend seeing as he was pretty sure he was the one with the most experience of looking after a child, even if said child was a different species.

“Eliot, get her something to eat and drink. Parker, gather up any spare blankets and pillows you can find and make a nest for her in a corner. I’ll do some research into dragons and also keep an eye on her.”

***

Hardison came home from rigging up surveillance on their latest target to find Eliot asleep on the sofa with Yuvaris nestled on his chest, also asleep.

In the short time she’d been living with them, Yuvaris had grown a lot and now she was almost as big as Eliot’s torso, even curled up as she was. She was also beginning to pick up some basic words and phrases in English, which was good because it meant Hardison was no longer the only person who could talk to her. He’d been attempting to teach Eliot and Parker some Draconic, but it wasn’t an easy language to learn even for people like them who knew a handful of languages each, both human and those of other races, so it was slow going.

Quickly, before either of them sensed his presence and woke up, he pulled out his phone and snapped a couple of photos, immediately sending one to Parker who almost instantly responded with a string of heart eyes and dragon emojis.

He tried to keep quiet, but not like he was sneaking around because that would be just as likely to wake Eliot as him loudly clattering around the place, and made his way through to the open plan kitchen where he could set up his laptop to monitor the surveillance footage and also keep sneaking glances at the adorable sight that was the two on the sofa. There wasn’t much happening on the camera feed at that moment however, so his thoughts soon drifted to their current home situation.

They hadn’t planned to adopt Yuvaris, but they’d learnt that her mother had been killed in a fight with the poachers, and then as the days had turned to weeks, it had become obvious that the young dragon had nowhere else to go. Anyway, they’d soon all developed a very large soft spot for her, so after several late night conversations, they’d decided to invite her to live with them permanently. Yuvaris for her part had been delighted when Hardison asked what she thought, although of course the excitement had been overshadowed somewhat by the knowledge that she’d never see her mother again.

“Is anything happening?” Parker asked, startling Hardison as he hadn’t heard her arrive. Not that that was surprising, given that Parker could be completely silent when she wanted to and liked entering the apartment by any means but the front door, but he still hadn’t managed to stop himself from jumping whenever she did it. He broke his gaze away from Eliot and Yuvaris and turned to see Parker stood behind him, looking over his shoulder at his laptop.

“Ah no, not really. Saunders hasn’t gotten home yet, so it’s mainly just the housekeeper tidying,” He told her.

Parker had already lost interest though, as soon as she realised there was nothing to see on the surveillance feed, and was now halfway across the room. Hardison stood up and followed her into the living room, planning on stopping her waking Eliot up as he didn’t get enough sleep as it was, but he was too late to stop her pushing Eliot’s feet out of the way and dropping like a stone onto the sofa in the newly vacated space. Eliot woke up immediately, but it was a testament to how safe he felt in their apartment that he no longer jumped to his feet, ready to defend himself when he was woken by someone else. He curled an arm protectively around Yuvaris to prevent her from slipping off his chest as he carefully manoeuvred himself into a more upright position, murmuring, “Hey. How long have you been back?”

“Five or ten minutes?” Hardison replied at the same time as Parker said, “I just got here. I have a question, so Hardison, sit.”

She pointed at the armchair on Eliot’s other side, and as she seemed fairly serious, Hardison did as he was told although he had no idea what she was about to ask. With Parker ‘serious’ could be anything from the bakery had run out of chocolate donuts to one of their enemies had made them and they needed to move cities immediately.

“What do you want, Parker?’ Eliot asked, still speaking softly so as to not disturb the sleeping dragon in his lap.

“So now we have a child, does that mean we’re all dating?” Parker asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind one of her pointed ears as she watched both Eliot and Hardison intently to see their reactions. Hardison thought he probably looked rather taken by surprise, while Eliot’s expression was deliberately blank but they didn’t leave her to try and decipher their feelings from their body language for long.

“We don’t have to be together to have a child; we can co-parent platonically,” Hardison said carefully, as usual not wanting to make any of them feel like they were being backed into a corner. Eliot took a few moments longer to reply, meeting both of their gazes before speaking slowly but surely.

“We’ve been dancin’ around each other basically since we met so I think it’s time to get everythin’ out into the open. I’ll go first.” He paused to gauge both of their expressions before continuing.

“I love you both. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way about me, but I promised Sophie I would keep you safe ‘til my dyin’ day, and that’s what I plan to do. So whether it’s as a friend, or something else, I’m here.”

Hardison’s heart leaped into his throat. Was he really about to get what he’d been dreaming about for years but thought didn’t have a chance in hell of happening?

“You’re the two most important people in the world to me, and my life would be a lot emptier without both of you in it, so the option where I don’t have to choose between you is the one I want,” He said, forcing his excitement down so he didn’t come across as not taking the conversation seriously, although he did lean forward in anticipation. Fighting the urge to jump up and pull Eliot into a tight hug also took some effort, but he managed it, albeit barely.

“Good. I want to keep you both, so that’s settled,” Parker added, beaming widely and unlike Hardison, fully embracing bouncing up and down in her seat.

“We’ve got a lot more to talk about, but I guess the answer to your question is yes then,” Eliot told Parker, a softer smile than normal sneaking onto his face.

Hardison couldn’t help himself any longer, and launched himself forward, throwing himself half onto the sofa so he could wrap his arms around Eliot and hug him tightly, although still being careful to avoid Yuvaris. The excitement was clearly enough to wake her though, as she bounded to her feet and took off, flying around their heads a few times before landing on Parker’s shoulder, wings still extended to help her keep her balance. Parker reached up with one hand to tickle her under the chin, while also leaning sideways to join into the hug, curling her other arm around Eliot.

His family was unconventional, sure, but it was his and he wouldn’t change it for the world.

***

“And this is Yuvaris,” Parker said, her voice breaking through Hardison’s hacking haze. He was momentarily confused, but then remembered that Sophie and Nate were coming over to meet the newest addition to their family, so he pulled off his headphones and dropped them onto his keyboard before getting to his feet and going to meet their friends.

“…she’s a dragon,” Sophie stated as Hardison entered the living room, turning her head to smile at him despite her surprise, before continuing, “When you said you’d adopted a new family member, I thought you meant you’d got a dog or something, not that you were raising a dragon!”

Nate’s expression was one that said he’d discovered new, but not surprising information, which honestly was pretty standard for Nate. Of course he wasn’t surprised they’d adopted a dragon. He probably wouldn’t even be surprised if Hardison and Eliot joined a monastery and gave up technology and cooking respectively. In fact he’d probably have known they were going to do it before they did, or at least that was the impression he always gave. Admittedly, that did seem like the start of a interesting con, so maybe they would one day.

Sophie quickly got over her shock and smiled warmly at Yuvaris, still a little thrown but determined to be friendly.

“Hello Yuvaris, my name is Sophie and this is Nate.”

“I know. Mom, Dad, and Parker talk about you all the time,” Yuvaris replied, scampering up the back of the sofa so she was more on a level with Sophie.

“Mom?” Nate mouthed from behind Yuvaris’ back, glancing between Eliot and Hardison. Maybe he didn’t know quite everything. Eliot just glowered at him in response, his trademark expression that warned the recipient not to say anything more. Nate made a placating gesture, and then turned to Yuvaris to greet her.

“I hear you had your first school trip recently. Was it fun?” Nate asked, in a much more friendly manner than usual.

“Yeah! It was really fun! We went to the forest and learnt about different types of trees, and about all the animals that live there, and we saw a bear!” Yuvaris replied, the excitement that had taken two whole days to dissipate after the field trip returning once more. Her parents were happy that she’d enjoyed herself so much, but it was certainly tiring. At least there’d been three of them to take turns entertaining their hyperactive daughter.

“A bear? Wow!” Nate commented, expression saying that he could well imagine the reaction when they’d found out that bit of information. It turned out that it’d been from a distance and the children had never been in any real danger - the excursion leader had been very quick to explain the situation, not wanting to incur the wrath of worried parents, but there’d definitely been a heart stopping moment after Yuvaris announced what she had seen.

“It turned out that the bear was the friend of a ranger who helps look after the forest, and she said she’ll teach me to be ranger too when I’m older!” Yuvaris continued, swishing her tail back and forth in her excitement.

“You know, a little birdy told us that you want to be a ranger when you grow up, so we got you a little present,” Sophie told her, already smiling the fond smile that Yuvaris inspired in almost everyone she met. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small box, neatly wrapped in colourful gift wrap and tied with a sparkly bow. Yuvaris reared back onto her hind legs with her wings out for balance, careful not to overbalance backwards as she was still perched on the back of the sofa, and happily accepted the present. They all watched as she first slit the ribbon and then tore the wrapping paper with one claw, before delicately lifting the lid of the jewellery box inside to reveal a beautiful silver pendant in the shape of a leaf, decorated with tiny green gemstones.

“It’s so pretty!” Yuvaris announced, beaming at Sophie before turning to Eliot and asking, “Mom, can you put it on for me please?”

“Of course, darling,” Eliot replied, taking the box from her and lifting out the necklace, eyes narrowing ever so slightly when he got a closer look at it and realised how much it must be worth. He was pretty sure those were real emeralds. Nevertheless, he stepped in close to his daughter so he could carefully reach around her neck, fasten the clasp and then settle it in between two of the spines on the back of her neck.

“Here’s a mirror so you can see how it looks on you,” Parker said, holding out a mirror that moments ago had been hanging up in the hallway.

“I love it!” Yuvaris cried as she looked at her reflection, before dropping back down onto all fours and jumping off the sofa. “Thank you, auntie Sophie. Can you paint my claws green to match please, dad?”

“You go and get the nail varnish, and then I’ll paint your claws while the others have a cup of coffee,”  Hardison replied with a grin, reaching into the drawer of the coffee table to retrieve a plastic mat that was used to protect the table from glue or solder or in this case, nail varnish. Yuvaris scurried off in the direction of her bedroom as Eliot took that as his cue to go put some coffee on. He paused in the doorway to the kitchen though, and turned to look at Sophie, knowing that it had definitely been her who’d picked out the necklace.

“Later I think we need to have words about what’s an appropriate value of a gift for a kid,” He said, quietly enough that Yuvaris wouldn’t hear. He might not approve of how expensive the gift was, but he certainly wasn’t going to spoil his daughter’s enjoyment of it. Sophie however was seemingly unaffected by Eliot’s disapproval, and shot back, “Oh, pssh. It’s never too early to develop good taste.”

***

“Take that!” Hardison shouted as he summoned his spiritual weapon, that today at Parker’s suggestion took the form of a large glowing mace decorated in lots of little diamonds, and commanded it to swing at one of the men attacking them, knocking him to the ground.

“Even if you beat us, it doesn’t matter,” One of their attackers said, a half-orc woman with a grin that was made all the more unsettling by the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Eliot lunged forward and grabbed her by the shoulder, digging his fingers in tightly and pulling his other arm back, ready to punch her.

“Yeah, we’re just the distraction while our friends raid your apartment,” Another one taunted, this one an elven man currently wielding a crossbow from the partial cover of a nearby wall.

What was presumably meant to demoralise the three Leverage members, spectacularly backfired though, because they all realised at the same time what that meant – a bunch of thugs were descending on their apartment where Yuvaris was home alone, and while she was a dragon, she was still only a child.

At that moment, one of Hardison’s special alarms went off.

The three of them fought with renewed strength, Eliot punching the half-orc so hard he knocked her out, while Parker scaled the wall the elf was hiding behind and dropped down onto him, taking him completely by surprise. It wasn’t long before they’d taken out all of the opposing force, but they didn’t take the time to survey the aftermath or deal with their defeated opponents as usual; instead they took off immediately towards the van and therefore home. Their daughter was in danger.

A short while later, after driving as fast as they could and almost causing a car crash, they pulled up outside the apartment block and all jumped out, immediately heading inside.

Eliot and Hardison hurried up the main stairs while Parker ran for the back of the building where it was easy work for her to scale the outside of the building and enter the apartment from a window, just in case the people who’d broken in were watching the door. Weirdly, when she entered the apartment all was quiet, and apart from the broken locks on the door there was little sign anything out of the ordinary had happened.

She caught Eliot’s eye across the room when he cautiously pushed the door open, and signalled for them to fan out quietly in case someone was lying in wait, before heading towards the bedroom. She made the most of the elven part of her heritage to be completely silent as she snuck down the hallway and eased open the door.

However, it immediately became apparent that their stealth was for nothing as the intruders were all unconscious on the floor. Yuvaris was perched on the bed, surveying what had to be her handiwork. Parker skirted a sleeping figure and joined her daughter on the bed, checking her over for injuries as she asked, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay,” Yuvaris replied, clearly proud of what she’d accomplished, “I got them to come in here and made them all go to sleep!”

Parker called out, “In here! It’s safe!” before pulling Yuvaris in for a hug and pressing her face to the scales on the back of Yuvaris’ neck. She could already feel her heartbeat slowing to normal once more, but it was a fear she never wanted to feel again - the fear that her daughter was in immediate and significant danger. Even if it was apparent that said daughter could clearly take care of herself.

***

Hardison was nervous. He should have planned this better. Not that he had planned on adopting a dragon or having a frank discussion with Eliot and Parker that ended with them getting together admittedly, but still. He should have rigged the timing somehow or visited more. Anything so he wasn’t introducing both of his partners and his daughter to his Nana at the same time. Any one of those introductions would have been nerve wracking, so all of them at once, well, there was a reason he couldn’t sit still.

“Dammit Hardison!” Eliot grumbled as Hardison shifted in his seat once again, almost knocking over the bottle of soda in the footwell. The two men were sat in the front of Eliot’s truck, with Parker sprawled out across the backseat and Yuvaris alternating between flying along above the vehicle and taking breaks by landing on the back of the truck. Normally Hardison would fly (the boring way, by aeroplane) when visiting his Nana, but they’d decided that driving would be easier all round given that they were travelling with a young dragon. There was a faint thud as Yuvaris landed on the truck again, and then she slid the back window open and stuck her head inside.

“Are we nearly there yet?” She asked in that impatient way of children everywhere, no matter their species.

“We’re about ten minutes out,” Hardison replied, twisting in his seat to look over his shoulder at her. “Are you excited to have some other kids to play with?”

“Yeah!” Yuvaris cheered, before looking down at Parker and saying, “Parker, can you open the window? Please?” Then before she got a reply, she withdrew her head from the back window and vanished, scampering around the body of the truck to appear at the window behind Hardison, just as Parker reached out and hit the switch to lower it. Yuvaris crawled through the window, flattening her wings to her body so she could squeeze through, and landed with a thud on the seat where Parker’s feet had been a moment ago, settling in for the last part of the journey.

Fifteen minutes later they pulled up at Nana’s house, and after they’d all piled out of the truck and grabbed their bags, they were greeted at the door by a young human woman.

“Hello Hardison, it’s good to see you again,” She said with a warm smile, leaning in for a hug before turning to the rest of them and introducing herself.

“I’m Natalie. And you all must be Parker, Eliot, and Yuvaris. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Natalie,” Eliot replied, smiling back as she stepped to the side to let them in. Parker said hello, but was then distracted by Yuvaris suddenly being overcome with shyness and trying to hide behind her legs. Of course, given her size it wasn’t even close to working, but that just made it more adorable. Parker twisted around so she could crouch down in front of Yuvaris and be on the same eye level before speaking softly, “There’s no need to be nervous. And you know why? Because we’re going to go in there, and Nana is going to love us and she’ll tell us lots of embarrassing stories about Dad. Does that sound fun?”

Yuvaris gave a small nod and looked a bit happier, although still nervous. As Parker straightened up again, Yuvaris darted around her and followed Eliot and Hardison inside, leaving Parker to close the door, inspecting the locks as she did so. Not bad, all things considered, but she could definitely tell Hardison had had some input on the security from the variety of tech that her trained eyes could see. She then followed the others through into the living room, where she got her first look at the woman who’d raised Hardison.

She’d seen photos of his Nana and even heard her voice one time when Hardison had had her on speaker so he could work on whatever his latest tech project had been at the time whilst speaking to her, but for a variety of reasons, neither Parker or Eliot had actually met the person who was one of the most important figures in their partner’s life.

“-get the children,” Nana said as Parker entered the room, presumably aimed at Natalie as the young woman passed Parker shortly after. Then Nana turned her head towards Parker, and with a warm smile, greeted her, “You must be Parker. It’s lovely to _finally_ meet you. I’m Esther, Alec’s Nana.”

“Nana!” Hardison complained, with the fondness that was usually reserved for family, “You know why I’ve not introduced you before!”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Parker replied, reaching out to shake the proffered hand. Continuing with a small, soft smile, she added, “Alec’s told us a lot about you.” It was a little weird calling him by his first name, but it was easy enough to take Nana’s lead on that. The more difficult thing was stopping herself from falling into the safety net that was the Alice White persona, something that she sometimes did to cope with new or uncomfortable social circumstances, but she knew that both Eliot and Hardison would notice, and also that it was important that she was herself for this.

“We bought you some flowers,” Eliot told Nana, producing the bouquet that they’d bought from the stall they’d passed on the way into town from behind his back and presenting them to her. Of course the flowers had been Eliot’s idea and choice as it just wasn’t the sort of thing that Parker or Hardison thought about, but he was generous enough to pretend it had been a joint effort. Nana certainly appreciated it, from the delighted expression on her face as she took the bouquet and sniffed it, replying, “Oh these are wonderful, thank you.”

At that point several children filed into the room with Natalie bringing up the rear, a collection of ages and races, but the most important thing was that none of them looked scared at the sight of Yuvaris. Before they’d arrived, Hardison had confirmed that his Nana and Natalie had told the kids what to expect, but having visual confirmation that their daughter wouldn’t be made to feel unwelcome was good. Leading the way was a half-elf boy of ten or so giving a piggyback to a young human girl who couldn’t be more than four or five. They were followed by a tiefling girl who looked a little younger than the boy, and finally a goliath girl who seemed to be slightly older than the others. Parker caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and spotted another half-elf boy, this one probably a few years younger than the first, sneaking in from the next room. No-one else seemed to have noticed however – he was good, even by Parker’s standards.

“Now where’s Cargeiros?” Nana asked, looking around until she spotted the second boy as he sidled over to the rest of the children, “Ah, there you are. We’ve got some visitors I’d like you all to meet.” She smiled at the children reassuringly before moving on to introductions.

“Some of you have met him before, but for those of you who haven’t, this is Alec, an old foster child of mine. These are his partners, Parker and Eliot, and this is their daughter, Yuvaris. Why don’t you tell them your names?”

“I’m Barnes,” The older boy said, looking up at Eliot with barely disguised awe. He glanced away just long enough to set the little girl down, who as soon as her feet touched the ground darted towards Yuvaris with a big smile on her face.

“Zara!” She announced primarily to Yuvaris, as she stopped a couple of feet shy of her, clearly wanting to touch the dragon’s scales but unsure whether she was allowed.

“My name is Celysa,” The tiefling said shyly, watching as Yuvaris carefully raised her wing so Zara could gently run her hand along it and feel the texture of the scales under her fingers.

“Nani,” The goliath added simply, before nudging the last child, the younger boy, to prompt him to speak.

“I’m Cargeiros,” He said, gaze darting between all of the new arrivals as he simultaneously pulled out one of those fidget cubes that look like dice from his pocket, channeling his nervous energy into fiddling with that.

“Do you want to play with us?” Zara asked Yuvaris hopefully, once everyone had introduced themselves and she was done examining the shiny scales. Yuvaris glanced up at her parents, and after an encouraging, “Go on,” from Eliot, she nodded and replied enthusiastically, “Yes please.” Her shyness was already a thing of the past, now that it was obvious that at least one of the kids was excited to have a new friend.

A while later Hardison glanced out of the kitchen window just in time to see Yuvaris barrel past with Celysa clinging onto her back, shortly followed by the two boys giving chase. He didn’t know what they were playing, but he was glad they weren’t in the house because something certainly would have been damaged by now. Very glad, He thought as the garden rocked with harmless tremors that were surely the result of thaumaturgy being cast. Glancing around to check on the other kids as he finished making the tea, he spotted them further down the garden. Nani had a big stick in her hands and was using it to deflect blows from Zara, who was wielding a wooden toy sword that was almost as big as herself. Then as he watched, Nani let Zara get a hit in before clutching her stomach and crumpling to the floor dramatically. The youngest child waved her sword in the air in celebration and climbed on top of Nani, sitting on her to stop her getting up, sword still clutched in her pudgy fist. As Yuvaris ran past again, looking like she was having the time of her life, something settled inside Hardison, the small part of him that had been worried how his daughter would get on with Nana’s current foster children. It was great to see her having fun with children her own age, especially ones that weren’t just the vastly human dominated group that was the other local home schooled kids.

That evening, as the four of them were settling into their hotel room, Hardison turned to Yuvaris and asked, “So did you have fun today?”

“Yeah!” She replied, excitement showing even through the tiredness that it was clear she felt. Which wasn’t surprising, given that she’d spent half the day travelling, and half meeting new people and running around with the other kids. Hardison and Eliot were tired, and the most physically exhausting things they’d done were fixing the TV antenna and helping cook dinner respectively. Parker however never seemed to get tired, at least  right until she fell asleep in the middle of the living room, or curled up in the back of Lucille III, or once notably in an air duct above Nate and Sophie’s apartment. Hardison of course had been the one made to climb up there and wake her up, despite the fact he barely fit.

“Me and Barnes and Nani are now friends on Insta,” Yuvaris added, raising her foreleg with the custom smart watch on as if Hardison might have forgotten what Instagram was, even though he’d been the one to make the smart watch, specially designed for use by a dragon, when she’d started complaining that some of her friends had phones and she didn’t.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Hardison told her, smiling warmly at how well the day had gone. He glanced over at Eliot leant against the headboard of the bed reading a book, and Parker perched in an armchair tossing the letter opener that had come with the room into the air and catching it repeatedly, and continued, “You guys too.”

“She raised you,” Eliot stated, looking up from his book, “Of course we were going to like her.” Normally he wouldn’t be so openly affectionate with his words, but he knew how important the meeting was and how worried Hardison had been.

“Yeah, she’s cool,” Parker agreed, turning away from the letter opener at the highest point of its arc and making Hardison feel like his heart was going to stop for a moment. She caught it without looking as if it was nothing, and then thankfully for him, put it back in the drawer where it had come from.

“Can we watch a movie before bed?” Yuvaris asked, turning her puppy dog eyes on her parents. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Hardison tucked away the warm feeling his partners’ words had given him, and replied, “I don’t think we have time for a movie, but how about an episode of The Dragon Prince?” Yuvaris looked like she was thinking about it for a few seconds, and then nodded.

“Okay.” Hardison went and sat on the bed next to Eliot, and pulled up Netflix as Yuvaris curled up between them. Parker shifted the armchair so she was facing the TV and could prop her feet up on the edge of the bed, and they all settled in to watch as the title sequence rolled.

***

Eliot didn’t like the fact that he was about to go into a fight with their kid by his side, but dragons matured quicker than humans, and Yuvaris could definitely take care of herself. They’d known that for years. With both her natural defences and the training she’d had from himself as well as Parker and Hardison, well, let’s just say there was a reason she was there with him while his partners used the distraction to break into the target’s corporate headquarters.

He walked slowly up to the front door, in the way that screamed ‘I’m looking for a fight’, and beckoned one of the security guards towards him. The man looked suspicious, and his hand went to hover over his gun in its holster, but that was fine. Eliot mentally commended him for not being a complete idiot, but deducted a few points when the man did in fact walk over to him and got into melee range.

“What-” was all he got out before Eliot punched him in the face, effectively shutting him up. The other two guards rushed over at the sight of some random guy hitting their colleague, but Eliot backed slowly out of the door, using it as a funnel point.

He kicked the first guard’s gun out of his hand and sent it spinning across the floor of the lobby, before sidestepping the man’s follow up swing and causing him to stumble forward with the momentum of the failed punch. He clearly wasn’t very practiced at actually fighting someone.

As the second guard got out of the building, Eliot stepped backwards again, reached over his shoulder, and unsheathed his long sword. He didn’t usually bring it on these kind of jobs, normally reserving it for excursions into the Wilds or the sort of job where he might have to fight actual monsters rather than just humanoid ones, but seeing as he was there to cause a distraction the sword made a big impact.

He could tell the instant the guards spotted the weapon as their eyes widened and one even took an unconscious step away from him, and he let his grin widen, not in his usual trademark easy smile but in a slightly unhinged looking way that he’d picked up from Parker.

“Call it in! We’ve got a rogue adventurer!” The lead guard shouted, pulling an extendable baton off his belt so he wasn’t fighting a guy with a sword unarmed. Yuvaris took that as her cue to enter the fray, launching herself off the roof of the building from where she’d been keeping watch, and diving down towards Eliot and the guards. One of them cried out in shock and almost fell over in his haste to back away, drawing a snicker from the dragon and an amused look from her father.

“That’s a fucking dragon!” Another yelled, definitely giving off the impression of ‘they don’t pay me enough for this’. Before they could just turn and run though, the third guard growled at them both, “Pull it together!”

Eliot took a swing at the closest guard, knocking the man’s baton from his grip with barely any effort, and then as the guy raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender, Eliot took pity on him and with his off hand punched him squarely in the head to knock him out. He turned to the two other guards who were circling Yuvaris warily, attempting to find an opening so they could get close without chancing her flame breath. Stepping up behind one of them, he tapped him on the shoulder, ducked out of reach of the resulting swing, and then used the pommel of his sword to take that guy out too. He held his sword loosely in his grip so he could jump in if needed, but otherwise left the last guard for Yuvaris to deal with. He watched the fight closely, ready to act if it looked like his daughter might get hurt, but also to make sure she’d remembered what they’d taught her properly. He couldn’t let his daughter fight sloppily.

“Take that!” Yuvaris shouted as she spun around to hit the guard with the edge of her wing, sending him flying. The impact seemed to do it as he didn’t get back up again, so Eliot sheathed his sword and strolled up to Yuvaris to give her a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

“Well done,” He told her with a smile. Yuvaris grinned her toothy grin at him in response and announced, “That was fun! We should do this more often!”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Hardison crowed from over the comms, having managed to hack into the company’s CCTV feed just in time to see the latter half of the fight, “El, you should take tips from Yuvi on how to end a fight with style.”

Both Eliot and Yuvaris rolled their eyes at that, a habit she’d definitely picked up from him, as Yuvaris whined, “Daaad...” From up close, Eliot could tell from her expression that she was secretly pleased though, and he was glad. She very much deserved to be proud of herself.

***

The apartment’s roof access door swung open, the one specially designed to easily accommodate a fully grown dragon, and then as she entered the building, Yuvaris called out, “Mom? Dad? Parker?” Moments later, Parker appeared from the living room, smiling widely at their daughter’s return from her latest adventure.

“Hello Yuvi, how was your trip?” She asked, but before she’d even finished speaking her eyes were drawn to the bundle strapped carefully to Yuvaris’ front. Her question went unanswered, as instead Yuvaris said nervously, “You remember the story of how you found me? Well, essentially that’s happened again.”

The two women met in the middle of the corridor, and Parker helped her daughter out of what she had now realised was a makeshift baby sling. Parker spoke up, reminding Yuvaris, “Whatever help or support you need, just ask. We’re here for you.” Then she had the bundle in her arms, and cautiously folding back a corner of the material, she got her first look at the being Yuvaris had rescued. Her first impression was that it was just a mass of grey fur, but then it shifted and she could see a tiny head with pointed ears and a muzzle, and well that was definitely a wolf cub.

“Are you coming in?” Hardison asked then, sticking his head through the doorway to see where his wife and daughter had got to.

“Yuvi’s rescued a wolf cub,” Parker told him, turning slowly towards him to reveal the bundle in her arms.

“Not exactly,” Yuvaris corrected, whilst leaning down so she could nuzzle affectionately into her dad’s outstretched arms. Parker was about to ask what she meant when the cub let out a mewling cry and started moving. She could feel it through the material it was swaddled in and she thought it was just moving around because it’d just woken up, but then she realised with a jolt that it was shifting. That’s what Yuvaris had meant when she said it wasn’t exactly a wolf cub – it was a werewolf cub (baby?).

“Oh!” Parker exclaimed, fighting to keep the squirming, shifting bundle in her arms as Yuvaris and Hardison both watched anxiously, unable to do anything else. And then it was over, and Parker was cradling a human looking baby who was now looking up at her sleepily.

“I named her Angelica,” Yuvaris said quietly, moving to rest her head on Parker’s shoulder so they could cuddle together – mom, daughter, and now granddaughter. Hardison snapped a quick picture of the three of them, and then leaned back into the living room to call to Eliot, “El, come meet the newest member of our family.”

History repeated itself, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're curious about the character classes, here they are:  
>  **Hardison:** Cleric, knowledge domain  
>  **Parker:** Rogue, arcane trickster  
>  **Eliot:** Fighter, battle master  
>  **Nate:** Wizard  
>  **Sophie:** Bard  
>  **Yuvaris** (when she grows up): Ranger
> 
> I made character sheets for the four main characters, which you can view [here](https://www.dropbox.com/s/m4q7ps4n017d16f/Leverage%20character%20sheets.pdf?dl=0) if you're curious!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for The Adopt-A-Dragon Job](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16420043) by [Ithilwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithilwen/pseuds/Ithilwen)




End file.
